Lucie Arnaz in 'Sonia Flew' Soars to South Florida

 Lucie Arnaz TO STAR IN MELINDA LOPEZ'

"SONIA FLEW" OPENING APRIL 18 AS DRAMATIC FINALE TO 50^{TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON OF COCONUT GROVE PLAYHOUSE AND ON}

MAY 9 AS FINAL PLAY AT FT. LAUDERDALE'S PARKER PLAYHOUSE

 

MIAMI/FORT LAUDERDALE---As the dramatic finale to one the most successful theatrical seasons in its 50 year history, the Coconut Grove Playhouse will present Lucie Arnaz in Melinda Lopez' "SONIA FLEW," previewing Tuesday, April 18-Thursday, April 20, with the official opening set for Friday, April 21, at 7:30 P.M. at Miami's Coconut Grove Playhouse. Following a three week run through Sunday, May 7, the play will open a one week run, Tuesday, May 9-Sunday, May 14, winding up the inaugural season of the Grove season at Parker Playhouse, Fort Lauderdale..

Directed by David Ellenstein, the play will mark the mother-daughter debut of Arnaz and Katherine D. Luckinbill. David Brumel, Matthew Dellapina, Yetta Gottesman and Robert Grossman round out the company.

A Grove favorite for such early appearances in "Once Removed," "A Picasso," and "Ann and Debbie," Lucie Arnaz continues a versatile acting career which for over thirty-five years has included starring Broadway roles in "They're Playing Our Song," which scored her the Theatre World, LA Drama Critic's and Outer Critic's Circle Awards, "Lost in Yonkers," and "Grace and Glorie." Soon to be back on Broadway where she will open in May in the musical smash., "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," Arnaz also counts a parade of national touring show successes including "Seesaw," "Social Security," "Whose Life is it Anyway?" and "My One and Only." In addition to major TV successes in "The Lucie Arnaz Show," "The Black Dahlia," and "Here's Lucy," and such films as "The Jolson Story" for which she won a Golden Globe nomination, Arnaz is particularly special to local audiences who will recall her starring role in Jerry Herman's "Mack and Mabel," which in February, 1976 inaugurated the premiere season of the Miami Beach Theater of the Performing Arts (TOPA), known today as the Jackie Gleason Theater.

 Inspired by the moving plight and exodus of the 14,000 children of Cuba who found themselves separated from their parents to escape indoctrination by Fidel Castro in what became known in the 1960s as the years of the "Pedro Pan" movement, SONIA FLEW recalls the impact of those years on those who have now reached maturity and what those separations did to their lives. The play centers around a young girl put on a plane bound for U.S. soon after Castro rises to power.

Of Cuban descent, playwright/actress Melinda Lopez is recalled for her Grove debut in 2000 when her one woman show, "Midnight Sandwich/Medianoche," received an excellent reception from both critics and audiences, winning Boston's prestigious Elliot Norton Award as "Outstanding New Play" when earlier produced by the Huntington Theater Company. Lopez was the first recipient of the Charlotte Woolard Award given by the Kennedy Center to a "promising new voice in American Theatre." In addition to her plays, which also includes the award-winning "God Smells Like a Roast Pig," Lopez is an accomplished actress who has performed at the Guthrie Theatre, the Portland Stage Company, the New York Theatre Workshop and "The Playwrights Collective."

Featured in the cast are Davd Brummel in his fourth appearance at the Grove following such earlier productions as "Death of a Salesman," "Romeo and Bernadette," and "Real Men;" Matthew Dellapina, who has appeared in "I Am Nobody's Lunch" with the Civilians (59 E. 59); Talking Band's "The Parrot," Dmitry Lipkin's "The Wanderer," and Len Jenkins' "Like I say" at the Flea Theatre; Yetta Gottesman, who comes direct from the Long Wharf Theatre production of "Aphrodisiac," and her earlier New York appearances in the Public Theatre production of "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot," directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman; Robert Grossman, recalled locally for his Carbonell Award-winning performance as Jacques in the Grove production of "As You Like It;" and Katherine D. Luckinbill, daughter of Lucie Arnaz and Lawrence Luckinbill, a BFA performance major at the U. of Miami where she has appeared in "Into the Woods," "Cabaret," and "As You Like It."

Director David Ellenstein is a Grove alumnus of such earlier plays as "Halpern and Johnson," starring Hal Linden and Brian Murray," and "The Chosen," starring Theodore Bikel. Artistic Director of North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach, California, Ellenstein has guided a mix of plays, which addition to the above, include "Romeo and Juliet," "Amy's View," "A Life in the Theatre," "Story Theatre," and "Charley's Aunt." As an actor, Ellenstein has played title roles in "Hamlet" at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and LARC, "Richard 111" at California Shakespeare Festival. ." Film and TV credits include over three dozen roles in such high profile shows as "Star Trek !V," "The Practice" and "General Hospital."

SONIA FLEW will have sets by Michael Anania, costumes by Ellis Tillman, lighting by Frances Aronson, and sound by Steve Shapiro.

The First performance of SONIA FLEW was produced by the Huntington Theatre Company, Boston. Nicholas Martin, Artistic Director, Michael Maso, Managing Director on October 8, 2004. And supported through the Sanford Calderwood Fund for New American Plays.

Performances of SONIA FLEW, Tuesday, April 18-Sunday, May 7, at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, 3500 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, Florida are Tuesday-Saturday, 8 P.M.; matinees Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 P.M.

Preview performances of SONIA FLEW, Tuesday, April 18-Thursday, April 20, are $20-$45. Thereafter, tickets from as little as $20 range from $20-$60. For single tickets, groups and discounted ticket packages, call the box office (305) 442-4000. Student tickets are $15-$20. Rush tickets (2 hours before curtain) are $15-$45. For charge by phone and internet orders a $5 convenience fee per tickets will be charged. Further information is available online at www.cgplayhouse.org.

Performances of SONIA FLEW, Tuesday, May 9-Sunday, May 14 (Mother's Day), at Parker Playhouse, 707 N.E. 8th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 P.M.; matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2 P.M.; Sunday at 3 P.M. Tickets range from $20-$60. For single tickets and groups, call the Auto Nation Box Office (954) 462-0222. Subscriptions and discounted flexile ticket packages , (305) 442-4000 or toll free

(877) 642-7529. Also online at www.parkerplayhouise.org.

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